Of Memory Feathers And Chakra Wings
by Metronomeblue
Summary: Naruto is on a solo mission and he meets strange travelers. These travelers depart, and take him with them. And chaos ensues. Stuff gets flung, snake gets eaten and did we mention? Kyubi's a girl. And a hot one too...Cool.. Naru? SyaSaku OcFai KuroTomo
1. Sunfish And Shuriken

It was cold. Cold and blissfully quiet. At least, it would have been if it weren't for the sounds of crashing undergrowth and muttered curses spewing from the mouth of a sixteen-or-so blonde shinobi who was stumbling not-so-gracefully through the Konoha forest. "Crap. I knew I went the wrong way." Uzumaki Naruto sighed forlornly. He pushed his hair off his sweaty forehead and out of his despairingly bright blue eyes.. The dark was getting even wetter, and more impenetrable by the second, and he still had to complete his solo mission. Crap was a word perfectly suited to this situation. So was Shit.  
"Shit. Just great, Oh! What's that?" Forgetting all pretense of silence [or anything remotely close to it] Naruto ran toward an odd light on the unfamiliar ground. Yaaagh!" His cry echoed out over the wide lake he had nearly fallen into and across the forest as well. The bright light he had seen was coming from the lake, and was, oddly enough, moving in circles, as though......swimming..? "C'mere fishie-fishie, I'll catch you!" The boisterous ninja peeled off his shirt, tied his shiny Hitai-Ate leaf headband around his neck, and dove spectacularly into the wide blue lake to pursue the glowing light. Little did he know that this simple act would change his life.  
"It's scary."  
"Don't worry. I'm here for you."  
"Kurogane is very happy!"  
"WHO'S THE REAL KUROGANE?!?!? You are Mokona, right?" Kurogane was a Shinobi. Really. Just, well, when he gets mad.  
"Kurogane is Mad!" Mokona Modoki was a monkey-bunny-squirrel-chinchilla- well, thing. To be more precise, it was a marshmallow with ears, a short tail, and a clever brain.  
"THEN DON'T MAKE ME MAD!"  
"Mokona can do a very good imitation of someone else's voice though!" Fai D. Flowright was a magician, or more accurately, he used to be. [He's very handsome too! Just, don't tell Kurogane I said that]  
"It's Mokona's One-hundred-and-Eighth Secret Technique!"  
"What about the other 107?" Fai inquired with his usual charming smile.  
"They're a secret!"  
"Mokona is very good at leaving cliffhangers!" Fai said whilst nuzzling Mokona closely.  
"You two can stay like this forever." Muttered Kurogane crossly, stomping off into the misty evening.  
"Wait up Kuro-Tan!" Fai shouted chasing his long-legged 'Friend' off. Then the two heard a shout and some garbled noise.  
"What?!?!" Kurogane turned to react to the sudden splashes that were adding to the mystery of what happened.  
"Burble-Warrble. Wurble-Nurble!" [ This roughly translates to: No way! I never knew this existed!....] Naruto was beginning to run out of air. To his credit, though, he did manage over two minutes underwater. But as he rose up, he was shocked to find an oddly-dressed young boy, around fourteen, maybe fifteen, and a very cute girl, around the same age as the boy, inspecting his shirt closely and talking quietly.  
"Maybe Kurogane-San or Fai-San know who this belongs to." The boy said and adjusted his hold on the shirt.  
"Do you think so? So Syaoran-Kun, you've never seen anything like it?" The cute girl smiled warmly at the boy, supposedly 'Syaoran.  
"No. When I traveled with my father, I never saw anything like this! It's so different from anything else!" The boy smiled eagerly and pushed a lock of shaggy brown hair out of his eyes, though in a very different way than the spluttering young ninja in the lake had a moment earlier. Speaking of the spluttering ninja.  
"HEY! What are you two weirdos doing with my shirt?!?" Ignoring any manners he had ever had, Naruto ran over and grabbed his shirt from Syaoran. Dripping wet, steaming mad, and half undressed, the girl couldn't help but giggle nervously at the blond boy.  
"Sakura-hime?" Syaoran asked her."What is it?" Naruto reacted oddly to the news that he had inferred from the honorific. This scandalously cute girl was a princess? Really? And of where?  
"Oh! It's, well, it's just so.... He was in the lake!" Sakura-Hime giggled again, but this time she smiled kindly at the sopping wet Ninja.  
"Hey! Sakura-Chan, Syaoran-Kun! Who's this?" Fai came in, panting slightly. He seemed a bit uneasy at the young Ninja's presence. Meanwhile, Kurogane ran through the edge of the foggy clearing, Mokona on his shoulder.  
"Me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm a Shinobi, and one day, I'll be the next Hokage! Who are you old Loonies?" Naruto said obnoxiously. "And why is there a city in the lake?!?"  
"What?" Blinked Syaoran."We're from th- Well, Sakura and I are from The Kingdom Of Clow, Kurogane-San here is from The Country Of Japan, and Fai-San is from the Country of, well, I don't know exactly where, Oh! And Mokona, is from The Dimension Witch's shop. It's a pleasure to meet you." Syaoran shook Naruto's hand.  
"Hey, pork bun, any feathers here?" Kurogane asked, ignoring Naruto completely.  
"Mokona? Is Kuro-Wan asking a good question?" Fai enquired.  
"Mokona can't feel any feathers here, Fai-San." Sakura said to Fai from her position over by Syaoran.  
"Should we leave?" Kurogane asked bluntly. "Mokon-" Naruto began to ask what a 'Mokona' was. Just then Mokona's mouth opened, wings grew splendidly from it's back, and a large seal appeared on the misty ground.  
"Hey!?! Wait! Hold On!" Naruto grabbed Syaoran's arm, attempting to ask what was going on. Before he could, Konoha seemed to spiral away from his vision, leaving him senseless.  
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!!!!! 


	2. Dimension Witch And Decisions

Warm..... Cold....... Syaoran-Kun........Syaora-..........Mokon..... Naruto's head hurt. A lot. Really, a lot. He faintly remembered his solo mission, but couldn't remember finishing.... Oh, right, those weird people who-  
"Ow!" Naruto's eyes snapped open, exposing his eyes to the pale, snowy light.  
"Oh! Syaoran-Kun, he's awake!" Sakura ran over from where she had been sitting. She had shortly cut brown hair that hung at the outermost edges of her vision, but that also meant that parts of her eyes were obscured, so what happened next was no surprise. Crash! And suddenly Sakura was covered in a tea-like substance that closely resembled the tree trunks that had been surrounding Naruto the last time he was awake.  
"Oh, so you're awake. I'm really sorry!" Syaoran looked worriedly at Naruto, as though he had done something very bad. As though it was his fault that Naruto was lying here in this odd world, so far away from his own. Naruto sat up suddenly, not noticing the pain in his head. "Oh, um, You, really shouldn't move yet. You seem to be experiencing, what's it called, um, sleep deprivation." Syaoran helped Naruto up. The blue-eyed ninja ran an agile hand through his consistently tousled blonde hair. "What happened? Where- Nnngh! Ow!" "He did warn you not to move too much. It's surprising that you're still standing, considering the fact that you were a hanger-on. Mokona doesn't usually acknowledge stragglers. You must be something special." The smooth, sweet voice was coming from a beam of light. The light was projected from the forehead of the small creature that Syaoran and Sakura had called Mokona. In the end of the light was a woman's torso. She had long black hair that put midnight to shame, lavender eyes that reminded Naruto of his friend, Hinata's, and she also wore a smile that was at once so compelling, and yet also so far away, as though she could do nothing but watch them. "You are....." The woman closed her eyes, but they then snapped unbearably open, and so quickly that it seemed as though she had never closed them in the first place. "You are He. The one who was to come here. Hmmmmm, Mokona, it seems that you've beaten me to a customer. Take care of him, please." The woman was smiling again, but her eyes retained the surprise of a moment before. "He will help you in times to come. Very often it seems that things are happening. Things that shouldn't, do. Things that should, don't." The witch smiled wistfully."I am Yuuko, The Space-Time Witch. You are.... Uzumaki Naruto, from Konohagakure, yes?" A statement, not a question.  
"Yeah. What just happened, um, Yuko-San? I was in Konoha, not in some snowy place! I get it! It's a trick, right? You- You've , Just, just gotta be joking. I can't be in another dimension!" Naruto was visibly upset. Even Kurogane looked down. "If, if, if it's.... True, then, then..... How do I get back...?" Yuuko frowned sadly. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again.  
"I grant wishes." Naruto looked up. "But I grant them, for a price. The price to send you home..... Would be extensive." Yuuko looked at the young Shinobi. "You now have a difficult choice, young Naruto. You either go with these travelers, and be sent home at the end...." Kurogane tried to protest, but was silenced by a look."Or you can pay the extensive price now, and go home and forget that this ever happened. Will you pay me in labor? Or in.......Memories...? " Yuuko left her sentence hanging. Naruto was staring down at the rough wooden paneled floor. He had clenched his hands, and was trembling with the force of his inner conflict.... Or not.  
"DAMMIT! Lady, I'll take my chances with traveling! I don't run! Uzumaki Naruto! Re-Mem-Ber-It! I'll be the next Hokage, and I'll go home with the memories of this!" He was smiling widely and holding his arm bent behind his head. Kurogane smirked, thinking to himself,'Interesting kid. Maybe this won't be so bad after all...Now if only I could get rid of that magician.....', Fai smiled happily, Mokona jumped, And Syaoran grinned, sighing in relief at the fact that nobody blamed anyone else. Sakura was still cleaning off the tea.

Meanwhile in Konoha.  
"Sakura! He's got to be here somewhere!" Sai called over to the pink-haired ninja.  
"I know Sai! Just keep looking. If we don't find him, I'll, Oh!!" Haruno Sakura shouted, but her words received only echoes.  
"What will we tell the others? Sakura?" Sai as well, received no response. They were too far apart. They always would be. In more ways than one.

"So, are you all sure that we can pay for the food?" Naruto asked accusatively.  
"Surreeee. Sakura-Chan has very good luck! See!"  
Two tables away.  
"Your cards? Little girl?"  
"Like this?"  
"Ehh?"  
"What! Are you cheating?!!?"  
"Wow....." Naruto paused mid-bite. Sakura had won twelve card games in a row. Wow was right.  
"See? That's how we'll pay for it." Fai's golden hair was blown all ways, but he simply continued to smile dazedly, asking Naruto,"So, where did you live again? Kotopana?"  
"Konohagakure. It's amazing!" Caught up in his excitement, Naruto jumped up and began to wave his arms, and proudly describe to Fai his homeland. Kurogane fought with Mokona, and Syaoran asked about the feathers.  
And, somewhere far away, A black-haired kunoichi was crying.  
"Hinata-Hime, please. Don't cry! Please!" A bandanna was wrapped around her bodyguard's head, disguising his Byakugan.  
"B-But, B-b-b-but, N-n-n-aaahgghhhh!" Hinata burst out crying.  
"Naruto! Where are you?" Sai whispered sadly under his breath.

"It is progressing as foretold, My Lord."  
"Hmmmmm. The Fox-Boy will play his part as we planned." A hand reached out from the shadows and grasped a goblet of wine. Blood-red wine.  
End, Chapter Two.  
Sooooooo.... How'd ya like it? I'm trying to make lots of chapters, but it's so hard!  
Please review soooonnnn?!!! Thanks to LordGale119, *bows down*, I have permission to write.... I hope that you check his stuff out.  
Natsu-Tan 


	3. Unfriendly Natives

Note: Thanks to all those reviewers who've made my day! I'm slightly optimistic about getting reviews! So anyway, keep reading, 'cuz I've done something very special with this chapter...

"So, are we, like, in trouble?" Naruto was quite oblivious to the glares and growls of the angry villagers surrounding them, but that really shouldn't be a surprise, as he had been hated his entire life.

"Well, yes I rather do think so... Uh, Hello! He-Hello?" Fai tried in vain to talk to the angry villagers. The small black-haired girl clutched a black cat even harder.

"Foreigners! DAMN FOREIGNERS!" A tall man ran up, his face distorted with anger and disgust. "What are you doing here? Tell us!" Kurogane didn't twitch a finger, but Fai looked distinctly startled, and Sakura was wary.

"Us? We're investigating ancient ruins and stories in this area." Syaoran answered reasonably. The tall man only looked even more furious.

"Why the hell are you doing that?" The man stepped forward.

"Well... Um," Even Syaoran was at a loss for words this time. he had used everything he could.

"Us? We're doing that on a mission. We're friends on a vacation, and we're supposed to gather information for another friend's book." Naruto answered calmly, his head tilted slightly to the side like a child's might be.

"Yes! We're gathering information for a book on stories and myths on our trip!" Syaoran repeated relievedly. The villagers still looked apprehensive, but they didn't seem to be as ferocious as before.

"A...A book?" Syaoran nodded at him. "A kid like you?"

"No." Syaoran said rather flatly. "It's those men over there." He pointed at Kurogane and Fai, the latter waving happily, the former grunting angrily.

"That's right! This girl here is my sister, this boy our assistant, and finally," He concluded, pointing at Naruto, "This boy is an old acquaintance who we're only just reuniting with!" Naruto smiled cheerily. The tall man was practically flabbergasted.

"Hey HEY HEY! WHAT ABOUT MOKONA?" Mokona head-butted Naruto in the neck causing him to double over, muttering something about fuzzy marshmallows. Even Kurogane snickered.

"Hold on! What is that, that, THING?" The tall man pointed at Mokona, and screamed.

"Mokona is Mokona!" It was Fai saying it this time, figuring that if it was happening, it was happening.

"Fai is Fai! Mokona is Mokona!" The two started to sing and dance.

"Ooookayyy... Right. I'm, um, yeah." Naruto wasn't the only one who was weirded out.

"Those two... OI! YOU TWO STOP IT!" Kurogane shouted at them. It had no effect whatsoever.

"Just WHO THE HELL are you people?" This however stopped them, and all looked toward Naruto, unsure of what to say.

"Well, that's easy, isn't it? We're us." Naruto responded calmly.

"STOP!" Another man sped toward them, skidding across the icy ground.

"DOCTOR!" The villagers both shouted and murmured amongst themselves.

"How DARE you point your rifles at innocent travelers!" He huffed mouthfuls of cold, moist air.

"But they're-" The man tried to protest but they were interrupted.

"Precisely. It is precisely BECAUSE they are from another land that we should be polite!" He gasped at the hostile village-people.

"Uh, well... Hugh." The armed men lowered their weapons.

"I apologize for our former rudeness, travelers. Welcome to Spirit Town." The supposed "Doctor" spread his arms wide to them.

Some Time later...

"My name is Kyle Lodart. I am a resident as well as a physician in this town." he placed a mug of warm liquid in front of each person.

"It's very kind of you to take us in like this, thank you." Fai said sincerely, with his signature smile.

"Oh, it's no trouble. Besides, this building used to be an inn. There are plenty of empty and vacant rooms."

"DOCTOR! WHAT SI THE MEANING OF THIS?" A loud shout could be heard.

"Oh, dear." Kyle sighed wearily. "I seem to attract a lot of attention these days..."

"BRINGING OUTSIDERS IN AT A TIME LIKE THIS? KYYYYLLEEE?"

"Ohno." Kyle whispered.

"Please, do calm down Mr Glosam." A small wobbly old man chided him.

"CALM? How can I be CALM, when none of the missing children have been found and recovered!"

"That's why." Kyle's small statement echoed throughout the room. Of these people, three are children. If we turned them out, what would happen to them?" Syaoran, Sakura, and Naruto all looked at each other nervously. "And, they are also gathering information, perhaps they might know of something we do not."

"Bah, all foreigners are no good." Mr. Grosam swept off in a rush of cape and anger.

"Any-Anyway, Mr. Kyle, please ask them to leave in the morning. We cannot risk it, even if they too, are taken." It was looking to be a very grim journey indeed for these five travelers...  
So, how was it? I hope that you noticed my changes in dialogue and plot from the manga. If you didn't compare this to chapter 26 in book Four, I think, and you'll see what I changed. Anyway, on a side note, has anyone ever noticed that the song "Dream On" fits Naruto a lot? "Half my life in storm-written pages. Lived and learned from fools and from sages.." Wahhh, now I'm TT_TT for poor Jiraiya...  
PLEASE REVIEW, OR I'LL SIC KYU-CHAN ON YOU.  
Natsu-Tan ;P


	4. Foreshadowing, Temptation, And Villainy

He was dreaming, he knew that. He didn't have to think it. He knew. Starry blue sky wrapped around his sight. It was amazing. That was his first thought. Amazing. Then he realized: What was he standing on? It was a little bit like in those old comics that he used to read in the shop near Ichiraku. He realizes it, then falls. Except, he wasn't so much falling as drifting. He watched as every piece of sky and sun flashed past his eyes, leaving him not only speechless, but also dazzled senseless. Then he began to shiver, to feel the cold water hitting his bare arms as he fell faster and faster through space. As he fell, the blowing water began to freeze, solidifying into drifts of ice, blowing back off his skin. As he fell, the ice magically surrounding him like wings, he felt enough courage to look behind him, below him. What he saw was a large magical circle, star-like shapes twirling mesmerizingly into a large silvery butterfly, it's wings spread wide. Before he could stop, he began to fall through one of the wings, but he found himself gripping a silver, metal, tube. He realized in a few seconds that he had managed somehow to grip a piece of the butterfly before falling through entirely. The ice wings stretched and began to wrap like vines around the seal. He pulled himself onto the screen-like platform. He looked down, seeing where he would've fallen, only to find that he saw... Konoha. He saw the Hokage monument, the achingly familiar street that Sakura and Sai lived on, the apartment where he had spent most of his life, even the old Uchiha Compound. Then he saw her. Hinata was running, crying towards the woods where he had left his backpack and where he had left home unintentionally. He began to reach down, wanting to know why she was crying. His hand hovered mere millimeters away, hovering on whether he should stay, or leave back to home... When he touched it however, his hand stung like a thousand fires had touched it. Then he heard an oddly familiar voice behind him.

"A fair price is nothing to be trifled with. He should know that." As he turned, he saw the Space-Time witch, her hands folded by her waist, her face etched with grim knowing and pure, simple, sorrow. Then he opened his eyes, or he tried to. He instantly found he couldn't. "It's no use right now." The Witch said. He turned back to the image of Konoha. Hinata had found his backpack. "He intends to send you back. He intends to use you and that girl, if those Two should fail." She stepped forward. "You must not touch it!" She said fiercely, kneeling by him. He paid no attention. Instead, he reached out to the almost watery surface, this time his hand drifted through, his entire head, shoulders, and arm following, into Konoha, and he smiled. It was a cruel smile, almost unrecognizable, for his young face was devoured by malice and an age old grudge. And the hate of an enemy long-since trapped. But then it disappeared, replaced by an infinitely determined look that had been seen on his face many times before. A look that could only mean one thing... He was returning to Konoha... No matter what. But he had a duty to fulfill, and a price to pay. So whoever this 'He' was, Uzumaki Naruto would not do as expected! He fell back wards, and yet forwards, falling back into the realm that was full of stars, then falling through the silver butterfly, and forward to wake up in the town of Spirit. To pay his price.

"Ah, Naru-Pin! You're awake!" Fai teased him, patting his head in a 'fatherly' manner. Naruto snorted, ducking obligingly under Fai's arm to help Kyle pack up his medical bag.

"Yes, I'm awake." He said firmly, smiling knowingly. I suppose that it's too bad he didn't know Kyle heard him.

"Yes, indeed. The Fox-Boy is proceeding as expected. And the best bit is that the Witch doesn't know our real motivation to keeping him there." The shadowy figure reached out, to exchange an empty cup for a cup full of red liquid.

"Yes Master. Will we be proceeding in That direction?" The girl asked, her curly hair seeming to flicker in the unreliable light of the fading fire.

"Yes, Xing-Huo. We will." The figure beckoned her to leave.

"Of course, Master." She leant, in a combination of curtsy and bow, with her right leg stuck out and her free arm behind her bent waist.

End Chapter Four. 


End file.
